page_title: Steamboats on the Yangtze River
section_title: Chinese ships on the Yangtze
hierarchical_section_title: Steamboats on the Yangtze River / Chinese ships on the Yangtze
context_page_description: After thousands of years of junk and sampan traffic on the Yangtze River, river steamers were introduced by Europeans during the mid- to late-nineteenth century. The age of the steamer
  lasted nearly 150 years—from 1835 to 1980—and had lasting impacts on China, where river trade was
  essential to the economy due to the poor road network and few railways.
context_section_description: Yichang or Ichang, 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from the sea, is the head of regular navigation for river steamers; oceangoing vessels may navigate the river to Hankow, a distance of almost 1,000 km (almost 600 mi) from the sea. For about 320 km (about 200 mi) inland from its mouth, the river is virtually at sea level.
  The Chinese Government, too, had steamers. It had its own naval fleet, the Beiyang Fleet, which fell prey to the French fleet. The Chinese rebuilt its fleet, only to have it ravaged by another war with Japan in 1895, the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, and ongoing inefficiency and corruption. Chinese companies ran their own steamers, but were second tier to European operations at the time.
caption: Wuhan steamers
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